Desiderius Erasmus: A Brief Biographical Sketch - Essay Example

But “he showed discretion in his choice of tactics. If you wish to bring about peaceful true and lasting reforms, you do not, like the fanatics, indiscriminately attack not only the ideas you oppose but also the honesty, integrity, and sincerity of those who hold them. If you wish to convince a person he should change his ways, for instance, you do not hit him on the head with a bat.” (Thornton, 2005) Even though Erasmus’ reputation was somewhat diminished by his pragmatist attitude his legacy is growing in retrospect.

This is in large part due to the growing popularity and interpretive richness of some of his books. These famous books include Handbook of a Christian Knight, On Civility in Children, The Praise of Folly, Copia: Foundations of the Abundant Style, On Free Will, Julius Exclusus, etc. As this partial list of his oeuvre illustrates, Erasmus was a true polymath. His body of work is informed but not limited by the spirit of Christianity. For instance, nowhere else is this best exemplified than in his Colloquies, which is full of “nonchalant erudition, eloquence, and profundity.

Almost nothing, from war and peace to alchemy and salt herring, falls outside his purview. It is a treasure house of theological wisdom dressed in the finest verbal ornament of the age.” (Bauman, 1999, p. 536) In this sense, he truly remains a luminous pioneer of Humanism. Although Erasmus was a contemporary of Martin Luther they disagreed on several critical issues. Despite the comprehensive and persuasive arguments that Luther presented in his Ninety-Nine Thesis, Erasmus was not easily willing to concede the moral failings of the then-existing Roman Catholic order.

Conservative in nature and skeptical of the emotional appeal of radical revolution, Erasmus was to remain indifferent to Lutheranism and the Protestant Reformation that was beginning to spread across Europe. Instead, Erasmus preferred slow and gradual reform in the Church without dismantling its power structure. To Erasmus, religion meant “purity and justice and mercy, with the keeping of moral commandments, and to him these Graces were not the privilege of any particular creed.” (Thornton, 2005) In hindsight, some of his apprehensions about the Protestant Reformation were proved correct when several European societies fell into disorder.

Some of the most glaring collapses of social cohesion were the German Peasants’ War and the Anabaptist disturbances. Soon what began as rebellions within the Church would snowball into a class conflict. Desiderius Erasmus created controversy through his refusal to discard certain primitive Christian doctrines. The idea of ‘free will’ is one which he held on to even as his contemporaries both within and without the faith were moving toward accepting the doctrine of ‘predestination’. Although the Catholic Church itself had at times viewed Erasmus with suspicion and blamed him for the growth of the Protestant faction, he was at heart and deed a man of religious toleration.

(Olin, 1979) This is best exemplified in his work De Libero Arbitrio. Though meant to be a polemic to Martin Luther’s dominant views the tone and temperament of his arguments and language were admirable. It illustrated Erasmus’s belief that even disputes of faith should be conducted in an orderly, respectful, and courtly manner.